It has long been predicted that robots will one day rule the world, and in a small enclave in Lyon, France, they are showing just what they are capable of.

Innorobo is a conference dedicated to service robots, from those already commercially available and helping us with our everyday chores to concept robots that may change lives in the future.

The BBC has been floor walking in Lyon with a variety of robots and brings you the pick of the show.

Robotic salamander

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A robotic salamander that walks and swims like the real thing

Perhaps the robot creating the most buzz at this year's Innorobo was a mechanical salamander.

Developed at the Biorobotics Laboratory in Lausanne, the project could have big implications for the study of human paralysis, as well as being the forerunner to amphibious robots that can both walk and swim.

The team set out to mimic the way the spinal column of a salamander works. They chose this particular creature partly because of its simple neural circuits and partly because it can move on both the land and water.

"The robot is not a goal in itself," explained researcher Kostas Karakasiliotis.

"It is about trying to reproduce the neural system to help understand our own neural networks."

The researchers collaborated with neurobiologists to create a robot that moves surprisingly like the real thing. You can watch it in action here.

Minimal human

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Telenoid grew out of a desire to transform telecommunications

PhD research student Kohei Ogawa wants to reinvent the world of telecommunications, or, as he puts it, "use a robot to achieve tele-existence, where you transfer human presence to another place."

To do this he has come up with a telenoid robot, a kind of Skype in semi-human form. It is basically a VoIP service but with a face and body. It has basic phone functionality, but is also capable of recognising a user's motions via sensors inside the robot.

It means that as well as basic talking, the robot can also move its head and arms and can even offer 'virtual hugs', meaningful, for instance, when a grandchild calls its grandparent.

Currently, it is a research project at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University in Japan. The lab is headed up by Prof Hiroshi Ishiguro who famously made a robot in his own image.

In tests, the telenoid has already proved a hit, particularly with older people, Mr Ogawa told the BBC.